Astika
Overview A strange and relatively small people whose pride still thrives despite being endangered, threatened with the risk of extinction. Their story both in their history, culture, and biology are intertwined with that of the Amorza. It's rare to see two species that are separate yet closely connected in such a way as these two. Just like their genetic cousins, the Astika lives in the Everfree forest close to Ponyville and manages to similarly stay hidden from the general Equine public. However despite the connections and similarities, the Astika Tribe is vastly different than the Amorza hive in a number of ways. One of them is that while they tend to go sneaking into town as well, they usually never intend to cause harm. Instead they always attempt to create connections with the Equine society as well; this time being much friendlier than with the hive. Due to being very open to socializing in spite of their isolation, it's very easy to learn more about them. Just ask an Astika and they will gladly share. In terms of their physical appearance, they can be mistaken for an Amorza at first glance if viewed by someone with some ignorance. They do indeed share the same defining traits such as tail blades, dark colored exoskeleton and a tattoo-like purple marking that glows which may also be thought of as blood. The major difference is that the body shape of an Astika is much more conventional, almost always taking the same basic shape that a four legged mammal such as a Griffon or Equine would have aside from the draconic Astika whom strangely has more of an ape structure. The other defining difference is that the Astika is confirmed to be sentient/sapient. It has intelligence shown to be up to bar with most of the other races, sometimes smarter, and while a majority of them favor being stoic and silent, the Astikas are a very social species who value individualism with each individual Astika having his or her own personality, skills, way of thinking and doing unique to the individual as they can freely express who they are vibrantly in the Tribe. Even when converted into a Makida, how the Astika looks like and how the Astika used to think will still remain. Culture as a Tribe As a result of their sentience and cooperation as a tribe, the Astika were able to unite together in order to form a culture of their own, all with their own unique ways of thinking from rituals akin to marriage, how they deal with death and maybe even mythologies of their own. Though the population of the Astika is relatively small with just a single settlement as a tribe, the strength and intelligence of these seemingly primitive people enabled them to survive on their own as a small yet formidable and independent nation, free from the grasp of the Amorza Hive constantly trying to hunt them and hidden from the sights of most countries in this world, only known by a couple of lucky chosen individuals. Death ritual/funeral- When one of them dies, the others take their body to give to their families (If they had any) to perform duties the dead Astika said he or she would've wanted after death. Most of the times it's the closest family member of the deceased (For example, a sibling you're really close to or cousin but definitely could be an aunt, uncle or parent) which carves whatever exoskeleton the Astika has out of them to reveal the soft body within and close their eyes if it's still open. Afterwards they may follow the deceased’s wishes by either carving the exoskeleton into ornaments, dismantle and reassemble to add onto the living exoskeleton of the Astika who’s closest or even wear it as if it was their own if it happens to fit right. Either way, relatives who hold what remains of the exoskeleton tends to hear voices of the decease in a way as if they were still alive even after death. What they do with the soft body also has multiple ways to go depending on the deceased's wishes. Sometimes relatives disembowled, dismember or cremate the body but in the end, the relatives actually eat what they cut out and/or swallows the ashes from the cremating. While this may be seen as cannibalism, to them it's another way to preserve the deceased's memories closer than ever and thought to be better than letting them deteriorate into dust. At times though, the body is left untouched if the dead wanted it that way so they'd let the body sink into a body of water since water's actually sacred to them or just leave the body on fire or bury it if the dead Astika really wanted it that way. Classification of the clans in the Tribe Kuliga- the most common, familiar and kindest of the main tribes in the Astika Tribe. The reason for this is likely due to the Kuliga being the Astika closest to the Equine in both mentality and appearance as if they were based on the Equines and this is suspected to be the case if they're biologically similar enough to the Amorza. While the differences are vast, the Kuliga and the Equines still can look to be very similar. They both share the same general body shape though the Kuliga has claws extending from the rims of where the hooves would be, the signature elongated tail with a blade at the end, purple marked exoskeleton and, instead of nostrils, it has gill like slits on its snout which allows the Kuliga to have an excellent sense of smell that it can use to sense the world around him or her. The sexual dimorphism is also very similar to the Equines even with the exoskeleton on, making it very easy to distinguish a male and female Kuliga apart in the same way you can distinguish a stallion and a mare. The Kuliga has latent magic that is more potent than the Griffon-based Mwunji but less than the draconic Mtunza. Generally, the male Kuliga would appear to use a more physical and direct approach using fighting skills in his weaponry and bladed tail while the female Kuliga called a Uchowa usually brings out her magical potential and makes use of it whether it is to support or to fight as well, taking it up to devistating results. However, the Kuligas role is not restricted by their gendered as they're given the freedom to pursue what they want to be in the conditions of having strength and to never defect from the Tribe in which they are born from. Mwuanji- one of the most feared members in the Astika Tribe with good reason to be afraid of them. While they are the Astikas that holds the least potential in magic, they make it up with a general much more lethal body than their Kuliga cousins such as their claws long and sharp enough to resemble knives, their tails extending a bit further but has a larger tail blade which looks akinto the blades of a scythe or a sickle; this is one reason why people believe the Mwuanji is thought to be a reaper but certainly not the only evidence. Another advantage they have is flight via leathery wings akin to bats and dragons. Their mouths are fanged beaks with specialized muscles at the jaw, designed to propel the pointy beak at piercing speed, pecks with bone-breaking force. Unlike the Kuliga, the Mwuanji don't have nosal slits but instead have hidden eyes that has combining elements of a chameleons and hawks eyesight, giving them outstanding eyesight that they use to sense the world around them primarily. They tend to be taller, slender and imposing compared to the Kuliga while having the tendency to be much more aggressive and at times, sadistic. These traits could lead some to believe that like the Kuliga is based on the Equines, the Mwuanji is based on the Griffons, an assumption which isn't very far fetch. If a Griffon were to be compared with this reaper, the resemblance cannot be avoided. Mtunza- thought to be older than even the majority of the Amorza, these are without a doubt the oldest, longest living and rarest of the Astikan Tribe. With only two to four or six Mtunzas thought to still remain, some believe it is best if their numbers remain low as the Mtunzas hold an extraodinary amount of power both in their physical fitness, intelligence and magical potential that is known to be the strongest of the Astikas which the Mtunzas know how to express in ways that at times could rival the magic of the Equestrian Princesses but fortunately, most of the Mtunza are wise enough to keep their raw power safely under proper control. Thought to be a draconic-based Astika, their body shapes are gorilla like similarly to Ahuizotal but when standing up, they can resemble a dragon in between his adult and teenage years. Their tail blades are unique due to the fact that the blade can open up and reveal to be another set of claws that is aided by the Mtunza's incredible strength, further emphasizing a connection between the Mtunza and Ahuizotal. The magical they mainly make use of is psionic, some more passively using it to telepathically communicate with those around the wise Astika and sense the world around them while still capable of weaponizing their psionic power, one way by gathering it up and placing it into a concentrating psionic beam that could place a devastating effect on objects in the world of reality, both living and not. The few living Mtunzas serves an extremely important role in the Astika Tribe as wise elders, serving basically as shamans and chieftains. Though as they've already realized that the end for them will eventually come, they won't let the Tribe go down with them as they shall pass down their knowledge, power and position to those Astikas worthy enough to lead the Tribe in the future.